Benfica are the top Portuguese team when it comes to European football, contesting the Champions League/European Cup final on seven occasions.
While most of their appearances came in the 1960s, Benfica have continued to dominate Portuguese football over the years and now have a record 38 league titles to their name.
What makes Benfica’s successes in recent times more impressive is that they have routinely seen their most important first-team players and best up-and-coming prospects move elsewhere each summer.
There is a seemingly endless rebuilding job going on at Benfica with the first-team squad constantly being overhauled, yet so far, they have managed to expertly replace the players to leave for other clubs.
The big-money sales of Victor Lindelof to Manchester United for £30.7m, Ederson for £35m to Man City and Nelson Semedo to Barcelona for £27m in 2017 left the club with a familiar task. And it was the same in 2019 with perhaps the biggest sale yet, Joao Felix to Atletico Madrid for £113m.
Other recent big departures include Darwin Nunez to Liverpool, Enzo Fernandez to Chelsea and Ruben Dias to Man City. Most clubs would buckle after being plundered on an annual basis, and yet, somehow, you just know Benfica will continue to thrive.
Using either their elite worldwide scouting network to discover players with a great deal of potential or developing homegrown talents in-house, Benfica have managed to remain successful while turning a huge profit.
Here are some of the players that Benfica have called upon to replace a big-money sale since 2013 and whether or not they succeeded.
Sold: Jan Oblak to Atletico Madrid (£12.6m)
Signed: Ederson from Rio Ave (£435,000)
Season: 2014/15
Benfica certainly did well out of Jan Oblak’s sale, bartering the gigantic Slovenian shot-stopper to Atletico Madrid for £12.6m after he made just 25 appearances for the club over a four-year period.
Clearly, Oblak is an exceptional talent, going on to become one of the world’s best goalkeepers during his time in Madrid, but they certainly replaced him well, initially with the stop-gap Julio Cesar and later another Brazilian, Ederson.
Ederson broke into the Benfica starting XI in the second half of the 2015/16 season, but he really impressed in 2016/17, keeping an incredible 18 clean sheets in 27 league matches. His career took another step when Pep Guardiola snapped him up, going on to win six Premier League titles and a Champions League — among other honours — so far.
Verdict: Hit
Sold: Nemanja Matic to Chelsea (£21m)
Signed: Ljubomir Fejsa from Olympiacos (£3.9m)
Season: 2014/15
Nemanja Matic had been used by Chelsea as a makeweight in their signing of David Luiz from Benfica back in 2011 but after a couple of excellent years in Portugal, he returned to Stamford Bridge in January 2014, then moved onto Manchester United. He’s since also turned out for Roma, Rennes and Lyon.
It seems as though Benfica had prepared for his departure as they had signed his Serbian international teammate Ljubomir Fejsa just six months before and Matic’s departure opened the door for him to seal a regular place in the side.
Fejsa was a mainstay of the side for seven years and remarkably, 2017/18 and 2019/20 were the only times he has failed to win a league title in 12 seasons with Partizan Belgrade, Olympiacos and Benfica. However, the 36-year-old suffered injury problems towards the end of his Benfica career and left in 2020 for Al-Ahli Saudi FC before returning to Partizan. He retired in 2023.
Verdict: Hit
Sold: Oscar Cardozo to Trabzonspor (£4.5m)
Signed: Jonas from Valencia (Free)
Season: 2014/15
Oscar Cardozo had been a regular supplier of goals for Benfica during a seven-year stint at the club, netting 172 goals in 292 games but he had shown signs of slowing down in his final year culminating in a move to Trabzonspor in 2014.
His direct replacement, Jonas, struggled to make much of an impression at Valencia but was prolific in Portugal, scoring 110 goals in just 132 league matches for Benfica before retiring at the end of the 2018/19 campaign.
Verdict: Hit
Sold: Rodrigo to Valencia (£26m)
Signed: Konstantinos Mitroglu from Fulham for £6m
Season: 2015/16
Regarded as an expensive flop at Fulham after failing to score in three appearances despite costing a club-record £12m, Konstantinos Mitroglu enjoyed a renaissance in Portugal.
The Greece international initially joined on loan and 25 goals in 45 matches during the 2015/16 season persuaded the club to sign him on a permanent basis. He was even more prolific in his second year at the club, finding the net 27 times before eventually joining Marseille in 2017.
Contrast Mitroglu’s fortunes with Rodrigo Moreno’s at Valencia and it is clear that Benfica got the better deal as the Spanish forward managed only scored 38 La Liga goals in 172 appearances before being sold to Leeds. Rodrigo was decent at Elland Road, scoring 28 times in 97 appearances, including 15 in 35 in 2022/23, before being moved on to Qatari side Al-Rayyan.
Verdict: Hit
Sold: Nicolas Gaitan to Atletico Madrid for £21m
Signed: Rafa Silva from SC Braga for 14m
Season: 2016/17
It took some time, but the move finally worked out with Rafa Silva initially struggling to hold down a spot in Benfica’s starting team having been signed to replace Nicolas Gaitan, who was exceptional during his time with Benfica.
In his first two seasons, Rafa scored just five goals in 41 league matches, but followed that up with 17 in 26 in 2018/19. Injuries hampered his progress but Rafa returned to phenomenal form, adding a creative streak to his game. In his final two campaigns combined at Benfica, the 25-time Portugal international registered 36 goals and 29 assists in 99 appearances across all competitions. He now turns out for Turkish giants Besiktas.
Verdict: Hit
Sold: Enzo Perez to Valencia for £21.5m
Signed: Pizzi from Braga for £5m
Season: 2013/14
Pizzi actually signed for Benfica 18 months before Enzo Perez was sold to Valencia in December 2014, but he spent the 2013/14 season on loan at Espanyol before returning to Estadio da Luz.
Predominantly regarded as a winger during his time in Spain, Pizzi was converted into a deep-lying playmaker upon his return to Benfica, which enabled him to step in for Perez after he left for Valencia.
He continued to be a central midfielder before returning to the right side of the pitch midway through the 2018/19 season, and ended the campaign with 13 goals and 18 assists. Pizzi racked up 360 appearances for Benfica across all competitions, scoring 94 goals and providing 95 assists, before going on to play for Istanbul Basaksehir, Al-Wahda, Braga and, now, APOEL Nicosia.
Verdict: Hit
Sold: Maxi Pereira to Porto (free)
Promoted: Nelson Semedo from the academy
Season: 2015/16
Maxi Pereira went from cult hero to pantomime villain in the eyes of the Benfica supporters after he left them on a free transfer to join their title rivals Porto in 2015.
That, coupled with the sale of the talented Joao Cancelo to Valencia a few months earlier, appeared to leave Benfica short at right-back but fortunately, they had a tailor-made replacement waiting in the wings in Nelson Semedo.
After spending the 2014/15 season in Benfica’s B team, Semedo was promoted to the first team the following year and quickly established himself as a quality full-back, first for Benfica, then for Barcelona. Now, he is an important figure in the Premier League for Wolves.
Verdict: Hit
Sold: Ezequiel Garay to Zenit St. Petersburg for £12m
Promoted: Victor Lindelof from the academy
Season: 2014/15
It’s easy to forget that Lindelof himself was a replacement. Ezequiel Garay had formed a rock-solid partnership with the long-serving Luisao at Benfica, and after leaving,g he was replaced in the side by his Argentine compatriot Lisandro Lopez for a season.
Lopez is a decent player but proved to be a temporary replacement for Garay as the young Swedish defender Victor Lindelof was waiting in the wings to make the step-up from the B team.
During his time in Lisbon, Lindelof emerged as one of the best young defenders in European football and his move to Manchester United came as no surprise to regular followers of Portuguese football. Lindelof never really hit the heights during his eight-year stay at Old Trafford, though he still managed 284 appearances for Man Utd, helping them win FA Cup and EFL Cup titles, as well as two Europa League runner-up berths. Lindelof is now a free agent.
Verdict: Hit
Sold: Victor Lindelof to Manchester United for £30.7m
Promoted: Ruben Dias from the academy
Season: 2017/18
How do you replace a replacement? With another player from the academy it seems. After Lindelof made the move to Manchester United, Benfica promoted young Portuguese centre-back Ruben Dias to the first-team squad.
After being eased into the first team, it didn’t take long for Dias to become a big part of Benfica’s back line, appearing 24 times in the league in his debut campaign, adding to two Champions League matches against Manchester United. But Dias’ real breakthrough campaign came in 2018/19, in which he missed just five of Benfica’s 60 games across all competitions and helped them wrestle the league back from Porto.
Another decent season in 2019/20 amid interest from clubs around Europe proved to be Ruben Dias’ last campaign with Benfica, joining Manchester City where he won the Premier League in his first season and reached the Champions League final while also being named FWA Footballer of the Year, PFA Player of the Year, Premier League Player of the Season and Champions League Defender of the Season. He’s since added three more league titles, a Champions League title and a host of domestic honours.
Verdict: Hit
Sold: Ederson to Manchester City for £35m
Signed: Odysseas Vlachodimos from Panathinaikos for £2.1m
Season: 2017/18
When Ederson left for Manchester City in the summer of 2017, Benfica initially replaced him with goalkeeper Bruno Varela, but the Portuguese lasted just one season. The long-term replacement came in the form of Greek international Odysseas Vlachodimos, who joined in 2018.
Almost immediately becoming number one at Benfica, Vlachodimos kept 94 clean sheets in 225 games for the Lisbon club, helping them win the title in 2018/19 and 2022/23. His performances saw him move to England, where he’s turned out for Nottingham Forest and Newcastle over the past two seasons, although he’s only managed eight appearances for the two clubs combined.
Verdict: Hit
Sold: Joao Felix to Atletico Madrid for £113m
Signed: Chiquinho from Moreirense for £3.6m
Season: 2019/20
Perhaps the biggest replacement task Benfica have had in recent years, the departure of Joao Felix was a blow, such was his importance to the team going forward despite his young age.
Benfica brought in two attacking players when Felix left to try and fill the gap, Chiquinho and Carlos Vinicius, but neither made a considerable impression, with the former registering just nine goals and 11 assists in 126 appearances across all competitions and the latter sticking about for just a season before a series of moves to the likes of PSV, Tottenham, Fulham and Galatasaray.
Verdict: Miss
Sold: Ruben Dias to Manchester City for £65m
Signed: Nicolas Otamendi from Manchester City for £13.7m
Season: 2020/21
One centre-back to Manchester City, one centre-back from Manchester City. The summer of 2020 actually saw Benfica bring in two experienced centre-backs to help replace Ruben Dias, but we’ll go with Nicolas Otamendi as it was a straight swap (though Jan Vertonghen was also excellent during his time).
Now 37, Otamendi has been a regular at the heart of Benfica’s defence, racking up 231 appearances across all competitions and captaining the side. The veteran Argentine has lifted a league title and Portuguese Cup with Benfica, while at the Club World Cup, he surprisingly stands on one goal and two assists from three group games.
Verdict: Hit
Sold: Darwin Nunez to Liverpool for £85m
Signed: David Neres from Shakhtar Donetsk for £15m
Season: 2022/23
Just like Felix in 2019, Benfica had to regroup following the sale of Darwin Nunez to Liverpool. The Uruguayan goal-fiend was an absolute game-changer in 2021/22 as he netted 34 goals across all competitions, including 26 in 28 league games, establishing himself as one of the most clinical finishers on the continent.
Given his influence, Roger Schmidt sought to bring in a few attacking players, including David Neres and Petar Musa, but it’s been the former who made the most impact. The Brazilian hit 17 goals and 26 assists in 83 appearances across all competitions, ultimately earning a move to Napoli for the 2024/25 campaign. Though he wasn’t the first name on the teamsheet in Naples, he still managed two goals and six assists in 28 Serie A appearances, clinching a league medal along the way.
Verdict: Hit
Sold: Enzo Fernandez to Chelsea for £106.7m
Signed: Orkun Kokcu from Feyenoord for £26m
Season: 2022/23
As mentioned, Fernandez made the switch to Chelsea for a British record fee of £106.7m shortly after winning the World Cup with Argentina. The midfielder is yet to show his best form at Stamford Bridge, leaving some supporters nervous that their club has dropped an eye-watering sum on a flop. However, he does seem to be growing in stature as time goes on.
Replacing Fernandez was Turkish midfielder Orkun Kokcu, who joined from Feyenoord for £26m plus add-ons, fresh from helping Feyenoord to their second Eredivisie title in six seasons and 16th overall.
Kokcu has been a huge success, notching 19 goals and 22 assists in 97 appearances across all competitions to date, helping Benfica to Portuguese League Cup and Super Cup titles. He is now often linked with big moves away from Lisbon.
Sold: Goncalo Ramos to PSG for £55.4m
Signed: Vangelis Pavlidis
Season: 2023/24 (Ramos sold), 2024/25 (Pavlidis signed)
Goncalo Ramos scored 19 goals in the league alone during his final season at Benfica. Rafa Silva initially filled the gap he left but last summer, Benfica moved to sign Vangelis Pavlidis from AZ Alkmaar. The Greek striker has been a big success, netting 19 league goals and 30 overall — alongside 12 assists — helping his new side win the Taca da Liga.
Verdict: Hit
Sold: Joao Neves to PSG for £50m
Signed: Renato Sanches on loan from PSG
Season: 2024/25
The latest product of the Benfica production line, Joao Neves as gone on to greatness with PSG, winning the treble last season and becoming a key player for Portugal, with whom he won the 2024/25 Uefa Nations League. All that and he only turns 21 in September.
As part of the move, Renato Sanches returned to Benfica on loan with a permanent option, but it’s touch and go whether he’s earned it, with the 27-year-old managing just 10 league appearances — only one from the start.
Verdict: Miss
How Benfica could have lined up if they didn’t sell their star players
Benfica’s starting line-up had they not been forced to sell their key players is a true sight to behold. Ederson vs Jan Oblak might just be the all-time greatest battle for goalkeeper supremacy, while current talents like Alvaro Carreras, Antonio Silva and Orkun Kukcu sprinkled alongside Ruben Dias, Joao Neves and Enzo Fernandez makes for a terrifying team.
That’s without mentioning Angel Di Maria, who is still at the club until the conclusion of the Club World Cup, or Goncalo Ramos, who could perhaps come in for Nunez.